Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In The Last Great Road Bum, H ctor Tobar turns the peripatetic true story of a native son of Urbana, Illinois who died fighting with guerillas in El Salvador into the great American novel for our times
Joe Sanderson died in pursuit of a life worth writing about. He was, in his words, a "road bum," an adventurer and a storyteller, belonging to no place, people, or set of ideas. He was born into a childhood of suburban contentment in Urbana, Illinois, and died fighting with guerrillas in Central America. With these facts, the acclaimed novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (and now bestselling author of Deep Down Dark) H ctor Tobar set out to write what would become The Last Great Road Bum.
In 2007, Tobar came into possession of the personal writings of the late Joe Sanderson, which chart Sanderson's freewheeling course across the known world, from Illinois to Jamaica to Mexico City to . . . El Salvador--a life determined to be an adventure, and ending in unlikely, anonymous heroism.
In The Last Great Road Bum, Tobar inhabits Sanderson's story. Typically, you'd say he "makes it his own," but Sanderson doesn't quite let that happen, chiming in from the edges to remind Tobar just where all this great material came from. Funny, frustrating, wise, heartbreaking--together, Tobar and Sanderson create a sweeping story of youthful idealism, naive adventure, failed ambition, political awakening, and commitment to joyous action in the face of an often uncooperative world.
Ultimately, The Last Great Road Bum is the great American novel Joe Sanderson could never have written, but did truly live--as if Into the Wild's Christopher McCandless ran into Che Guevara on the road and they had their story told by Roberto Bola o. It's a fascinating, timely hybrid of fiction and nonfiction as only a master of both could pull off.
Synopsis
A Publisher's Weekly Top Ten Books of 2020 Pick
In The Last Great Road Bum, H ctor Tobar turns the peripatetic true story of a naive son of Urbana, Illinois, who died fighting with guerrillas in El Salvador into the great American novel for our times.
Joe Sanderson died in pursuit of a life worth writing about. He was, in his words, a "road bum," an adventurer and a storyteller, belonging to no place, people, or set of ideas. He was born into a childhood of middle-class contentment in Urbana, Illinois and died fighting with guerillas in Central America. With these facts, acclaimed novelist and journalist H ctor Tobar set out to write what would become The Last Great Road Bum.
A decade ago, Tobar came into possession of the personal writings of the late Joe Sanderson, which chart Sanderson's freewheeling course across the known world, from Illinois to Jamaica, to Vietnam, to Nigeria, to El Salvador--a life determinedly an adventure, ending in unlikely, anonymous heroism.
The Last Great Road Bum is the great American novel Joe Sanderson never could have written, but did truly live--a fascinating, timely hybrid of fiction and nonfiction that only a master of both like H ctor Tobar could pull off.
Synopsis
One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Fiction Books from 2020. Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence and the Joyce Carol Oates prize. One of Exile in Bookville's Favorite Books of 2020.
In The Last Great Road Bum, H ctor Tobar turns the peripatetic true story of a naive son of Urbana, Illinois, who died fighting with guerrillas in El Salvador into the great American novel for our times.
Joe Sanderson died in pursuit of a life worth writing about. He was, in his words, a "road bum," an adventurer and a storyteller, belonging to no place, people, or set of ideas. He was born into a childhood of middle-class contentment in Urbana, Illinois and died fighting with guerillas in Central America. With these facts, acclaimed novelist and journalist H ctor Tobar set out to write what would become The Last Great Road Bum.
A decade ago, Tobar came into possession of the personal writings of the late Joe Sanderson, which chart Sanderson's freewheeling course across the known world, from Illinois to Jamaica, to Vietnam, to Nigeria, to El Salvador--a life determinedly an adventure, ending in unlikely, anonymous heroism.
The Last Great Road Bum is the great American novel Joe Sanderson never could have written, but did truly live--a fascinating, timely hybrid of fiction and nonfiction that only a master of both like H ctor Tobar could pull off.
Synopsis
One of the Los Angeles Times Top 10 California Books of 2020. One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Fiction Books from 2020. Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence and the Joyce Carol Oates prize. One of Exile in Bookville's Favorite Books of 2020.
In The Last Great Road Bum, H ctor Tobar turns the peripatetic true story of a naive son of Urbana, Illinois, who died fighting with guerrillas in El Salvador into the great American novel for our times.
Joe Sanderson died in pursuit of a life worth writing about. He was, in his words, a "road bum," an adventurer and a storyteller, belonging to no place, people, or set of ideas. He was born into a childhood of middle-class contentment in Urbana, Illinois and died fighting with guerillas in Central America. With these facts, acclaimed novelist and journalist H ctor Tobar set out to write what would become The Last Great Road Bum.
A decade ago, Tobar came into possession of the personal writings of the late Joe Sanderson, which chart Sanderson's freewheeling course across the known world, from Illinois to Jamaica, to Vietnam, to Nigeria, to El Salvador--a life determinedly an adventure, ending in unlikely, anonymous heroism.
The Last Great Road Bum is the great American novel Joe Sanderson never could have written, but did truly live--a fascinating, timely hybrid of fiction and nonfiction that only a master of both like H ctor Tobar could pull off.